Alisson's Future in Iraola's Hands as Liverpool Faces Summer Transition

Andoni Iraola has not even been confirmed as Liverpool head coach yet, but his first major decision is already looming large: what to do with Alisson.

The Basque coach is expected to hold decisive talks with the Brazilian as soon as he arrives, with the goalkeeper ready to tell him he sees his Liverpool chapter as closed, according to Gazzetta dello Sport. For a club already reeling from an unexpected change in the dugout, it is a brutal dose of reality.

Slot out, Iraola in – and a dressing room in flux

Arne Slot believed he had the backing to lead Liverpool into next season. He had, after all, just delivered the club’s 20th Premier League title in his first campaign, restoring them to the summit of English football.

But the second season unravelled badly. Performances dipped, the mood turned, and crucially, the supporters drifted away from him. In the end, that loss of faith proved fatal.

Fenway Sports Group moved quickly after an end-of-season review led by chief executive Michael Edwards and sporting director Richard Hughes. Slot was sacked on Saturday, the hierarchy deciding the project needed a new voice and a new direction.

That direction points towards Iraola. Hughes knows him well from their time together at Bournemouth, having been the man to bring the former Rayo Vallecano coach to the Premier League in July 2023. Liverpool are now accelerating talks, aiming to have his appointment sealed before the World Cup kicks off on June 11.

And waiting for him is one of the most delicate calls of the summer.

Alisson pushes for Juve as Liverpool dig in

Gazzetta dello Sport report that Alisson plans to tell Iraola he considers his Liverpool career “over”. Juventus, watching the turbulence at Anfield closely, sense an opening.

Slot’s dismissal has “restored hope” in Turin that they can finally prise the Brazilian away from Merseyside. An agreement in principle is already in place, the Italian outlet claims: a three-year deal with an option for a fourth, and a clear promise that he will be their undisputed No 1.

For now, Liverpool are standing firm. The club have blocked his departure, a stance that aligns with previous briefings that they do not want to lose another pillar of the dressing room in the same window.

But that resistance may not be absolute. Everything could hinge on how Iraola and Hughes see the goalkeeping hierarchy.

If Iraola decides to build around Giorgi Mamardashvili as his first-choice goalkeeper, or pushes for a different new signing between the posts, the door for Alisson to leave could swing open. The Brazilian, for his part, has little interest in a battle for minutes. At 31, he wants guarantees, and Juventus are offering them.

Verbruggen on the radar as Liverpool plan for life after legends

Liverpool have already started to map out a future in which Alisson is no longer in goal. On May 15, it emerged that Brighton & Hove Albion’s Bart Verbruggen has been identified as a potential successor.

It is a scenario the club would rather avoid. Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson are already heading for the exit this summer, taking with them years of experience, leadership and a sizeable chunk of the team’s identity. Ibrahima Konaté has confirmed he will leave on a free transfer after contract talks collapsed. That is a lot of seniority walking out of the door in a single window.

Losing Alisson on top of that would rip out yet another cornerstone of the side that has carried Liverpool through some of their most successful modern years.

Yet the player’s stance is clear. He wants Juventus. He wants the No 1 shirt without caveats, without rotation, without a younger rival like Mamardashvili breathing down his neck.

Liverpool, meanwhile, are working on the other end of the pitch as well. They are pushing hard to secure their preferred successor to Salah, determined that the attack does not lose its edge at the same time as the spine is being rebuilt.

So Iraola walks into a club in transition, with a title on the shelf, a fanbase demanding renewal, and a world-class goalkeeper ready to tell him he is done. How he responds to that conversation will say plenty about the shape of Liverpool’s next era.